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XXII Olympic Winter Games 2014 - Sochi, Russia

I'm a fan of winter sports in general, but the traditional events especially.
Not a great fan of the freestyle skiing (jumps and spins etc) and the half pipe etc. Not very spectator friendly IMO unless you just like it for the visual stimulation.

For me, Skiing all types, ski/board cross, Short track speed skating, luge/bomsled/skeleton and curling are the job. And a bit of Ice hockey maybe.

So as far as Irish interest in the Olympics goes, there is a young snowboarder called Seamus O'Connor, who is supposed to be rraapiidd and is close to, or already qualified. Other than that there are a few skiiers.
Here is the facebook page for those who want to have an interest in the goings on. https://www.facebook.com/TeamIrelandOlympics.

SEAMUS O'CONNOR

The axe that cuts the tree can easily forget, but the tree thats been cut will not forget.

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I'm really in 2 minds about Sochii ... I'm a big fan of the winter olympics & enjoy watching quite a range of the events, but the russian governments actions in relation to freedom of speech & human rights really are distastful & they should have lost the olympics the minute they enacted the new laws against gay rights.

Plato: \"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.\"

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I wonder if any of the athletes might risk some sort of protest (armbands etc). The International Olympic Committee’s prohibits athletes from making political demonstrations at the games so many have kept shtum.

Bode Miller is one of a very few athletes that has spoken openly out about it.

On the Olympic Commitee:

“There are politics in sports and athletics, and they’re always intertwined,” “Even though people try to keep them separate, or try to act like they’re separate, I think asking athletes to go somewhere and compete and be a representative of a philosophy and all that different crap that kind of goes along with it, and then tell them they can’t express their views or they can’t say what they believe, I think is pretty hypocritical and unfair. But, you know the fact is, crappy situations like that have been happening for a long time.”

On the subject:

“I think it’s absolutely embarrassing that there’s countries, there’s people, that are intolerant, that are ignorant,”

“My main emotion when I hear and deal with situations like that is embarrassment,”
“As a human being, I think it’s embarrassing.”

The axe that cuts the tree can easily forget, but the tree thats been cut will not forget.

Originally posted by the plastic paddy

Gwan the Welsh

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I wonder could the teams be persuaded to incorporate an agreed symbol in their official kits in support of gay rights..
After a bit of digging this is a quote from the IOC website in relation to "olympism"

"The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

Plato: \"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.\"

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Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine and Jonathan Edwards will present 200 hours of action on the BBC from the Sochi Winter Olympics in February. Live action, interviews and highlights will be shown on television, six online streams, mobile devices and connected TV during the 17 days of the Games.

BBC Radio 5 live will also broadcast regular updates with live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website, mobile website and BBC Sport app.

Sochi 2014 starts on 7 February.

BBC Sport director Barbara Slater said: "The extensive coverage across TV, radio, digital and online, coupled with our superb presenting line-up, offers audiences the unparalleled coverage of a major sporting event that they expect from us.

"I'm delighted that we are once again able to bring every moment live to audiences, building on the success of our coverage of the Summer Games in London."

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Folks - money talks. The Olympics ceased to be about sport, a long, long time ago. Anyone clinging rigidly to ideals and the professed ideals of the Olympics, would have needed to boycott pretty much each and every one of the Olympic games since the thirties, near as damnit.

What I would not give to see an Olympics with no mention of "Team"; of country medal tables; of national flags or of national anthems...??? One without team sports. Where it is individual versus individual. Without PEDs.

It's not going to happen. Jingoism sells. It sells ad apace. It sells sponsors. It sell broadcasting/coverage. It pays athletes. And pharmacists. And publicists. It's a colossal commercial circus which rolls into town, if your town can afford it.

You can either bah-humbug it, or you can grudgingly observe and see if you can spot the odd nugget of a performance or of a story which warms the cockles and overcomes the cynicism. I'll watch it with my kids and try hard not to let my cynicism leech into their enjoyment of it all. They should be able to watch it wide-eyed and enthusiastic, as I used to watch them. They'll have plenty of time to form their own opinions on the bigger picture as they get older.

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